shecco CEO: Stakeholders can push for incentives in California

They have till this summer to support funding for natural refrigerant subsidies under the Cooling Act, said Marc Chasserot at the AHR Expo.

Marc Chasserot, shecco.

Credit: Ben Beech

As the California legislature considers how much funding to provide for natural equipment subsidies under the California Cooling Act, industry stakeholders can push for those subsidies until the summer of 2019, said shecco CEO Marc Chasserot at the AHR Expo this week.

“This will be an opportunity to get some incentives for natural refrigerant-based equipment in supermarkets and industrial applications,” said Chasserot during a presentation called “Global Market and Policy Trends for CO2 and Ammonia in Refrigeration” on January 15 at the event, held at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Ga.

“That would help reduce the price of natural refrigerant-based equipment here in the U.S. compared to traditional equipment,” he added. “That would really be a boost.”

(Stakeholders interested in communicating with relevant parties in the California government in regard to the incentives program should email klara.skacanova@shecco.com.)

The California Cooling Act (SB 1013), which was enacted last August, is the first statewide law to authorize financial incentives for low-GWP refrigeration systems that include natural refrigerants. The legislation also preserves HFC bans previously set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, including bans of R404A and R507A in supermarket equipment that took effect January 1, 2019.

Several other states, including Connecticut, New York and Maryland, have announced that they plan to follow California’s lead in regulating HFCs and clearing a path to natural refrigerants. “When we talk to the regulators in Sacramento [California], they say to us that they want to show the rest of the U.S. [what to do],” said Chasserot.

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This will be an opportunity to get some incentives for natural refrigerant-based equipment in supermarkets and industrial applications.” – Marc Chasserot, shecco

Other highlights of Chasserot’s presentation include:

There are now more than 615 transcritical CO2 systems installed in stores in North America, including more than 370 in the U.S. and more than 245 in Canada.

Europe remains the leader in transcritical CO2 with more than 16,000 installations, which accounts for about 14% of all stores.

Transcritical CO2 systems are being installed in some challenging high-ambient environments, such as Jordan, India, Russia and Mexico.

More than 6,000 stores are using CO2 condensing units or mini-boosters globally.

More than 2.5 million hydrocarbon self-contained cases are used globally in stores.

More than 1,900 stores globally use hydrocarbon water-loop systems.

More than 420 low-charge ammonia systems are used in North America, including more than 200 in Canada and more than 220 in the U.S.